WASHINGTON — George Stevens Jr. knew he created something special in 1978 when he saw the audience at the Kennedy Center react to old black-and-white footage of Marian Anderson singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

WASHINGTON — George Stevens Jr. knew he created something special in 1978 when he saw the audience at the Kennedy Center react to old black-and-white footage of Marian Anderson singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

"We had not anticipated it, but they all turned and stood with this huge long ovation for her," Stevens said. The singer had been turned away from performing at Constitution Hall near the White House in 1939 because she was black. But in 1978, she was being honored by her country at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

This year, it's Diana Ross receiving the Kennedy Center Honors, along with Steve Martin, Martin Scorsese, Brian Wilson and pianist Leon Fleisher. The ceremony, taped on Dec. 2, was on CBS last night.

The honors have become the consummate Washington event. Tickets now go for $4,000 for orchestra seats — way up from the $150 they charged that first year, in 1978. After 30 years, the show still draws more than 8 million viewers on television.